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Joburg Water to repair old pipes - 28 March 2008

Johannesburg - Joburg Water is embarking on full-scale maintenance of water systems in the southern suburbs of Glenvista, Kibler Park and Ridgeway.

This is in a bid to overhaul its ageing infrastructure and prevent the frequent water pipe bursts and leaks that often lead to flooding in the area.

Construction will be carried out over the next 14 weeks, and is scheduled to be completed by June, reports the city’s official website.

In Glenvista, work is expected to begin at the end of March.

Some R2.4 million has been allocated for the project, which entails the replacement of about 1.94 kilometres of piping.

Water and sanitation infrastructure, including water pipes and reservoirs, have to be regularly maintained to prevent bursts and leakages.

This can cause flooding, which often damages properties and results in soil erosion.

The maintenance follows a string of complaints from residents, who claimed that the old water systems posed serious hazards with Lineate Avenue in Glenvista was the hardest hit.

Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday at Joburg Water's Glenvista depot, the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Infrastructure and Services, Ros Greeff, said that the city had planned to wipe out backlogs in its infrastructure rehabilitation and upgrading programmes.

She pointed out that the city's water and sanitation utility had numerous plans to improve service delivery.

"All these projects have the objective to improve ... customer satisfaction by ... extending Johannesburg Water's infrastructure and replacing old and outdated infrastructure."

The municipal-owned entity has committed itself to improving the level of water and sanitation services in Johannesburg and, in time, the comprehensive upgrading of water infrastructure will expanded across the metro.

No service disruptions and water supply problems are foreseen during the work, but Joburg Water will notify residents at least 48 hours before there are any planned supply cuts caused by the construction work.

Ms Greeff said she was confident that the city was making great strides in raising levels of service delivery to all its citizens.

"Through this [project] we continue to improve water supply to consumers," she noted, adding that the City and its management had committed themselves to this undertaking.

"And we will continue to work towards making Johannesburg a world-class African city."

Maintaining its water systems allows Joburg Water to keep track of its capacity.

To report water or sewer problems, the public can call the utility's 24-hour call centre on (011) 688-1500, or call the Joburg Connect on (011) 375-5555.